Yu Darvish's son becomes good luck charm for Manny Machado in Padres' comeback win

San Diego Padres superstar Manny Machado produced a clutch performance to lead his team to a come-from-behind 6-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday.

Machado gave San Diego the lead in the first inning with a solo home run off Pirates starter Andrew Heaney. It was the Padres All-Star's seventh home run of the season.

The six-time All-Star delivered again in the seventh inning as his sacrifice fly drove in a run to break a 4-4 tie. The Padres added another run to edge out a 6-4 win.

Machado's teammate, Yu Darvish's wife, Seiko, was at the game with their son. Seiko shared an Instagram story of their son wearing Machado's No. 13, proving to be the infielder's lucky charm as he went 1-for-3 in Sunday's series decider.

Manny Machado reflected on his go-ahead RBI sacrifice fly in a four-run rally in the seventh inning that turned the game in San Diego's favor.

“That inning was huge for us,” Machado said. “[We were] stringing together some really good at-bats, making those guys pitch and come to us. Kind of looked like our old selves.”

Manny Machado acknowledges offensive struggles after Pirates win

The Padres had suffered a 5-0 loss in the second game of the series as their offensive struggles mounted. Despite a late comeback win in the series finale, Manny Machado urged the offense to heat up from the get-go.

“We’ve got to do it from the first inning -- that’s when we’re at our best,” Machado said. “But it’s definitely a good starting point. That’s what this team’s made of. Everyone through that lineup can do that.”

The Padres improved to 33-24 and trail NL West leaders Los Angeles Dodgers by 2.0 games. They will clash against division rivals, the San Francisco Giants, just a game behind San Diego, in a crucial four-game series hosted by Oracle Park.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash